Lisa's Blog for DrapeStyle

For Well Over a Decade DrapeStyle has Manufactured the Finest Custom Drapery Available for Designers and Homeowners in the US and Canada

About Lisa

Lisa Sinatra is the Co-Founder and Creative Director of DrapeStyle. Lisa began her design career in Los
Angeles at Aref and Associates and HOK before launching DrapeStyle in 2002. Lisa was recognized in 2006 as
one of the Top 25 Women Entrepreneurs in Orange County, CA.

Posts Tagged ‘Drapery Design Advice’

Lets face it, buying custom made window treatments can be a very expensive proposition. Regardless if you are shopping for custom drapes, Roman Shades, valances or shutters you can easily spend upwards of $10,000 by the time your done. We’re talking about a lot of money here and you should not have to make some of the important decisions on your own. For most window treatments you need to be very accurate with your measurements, especially if you have larger or odd-size or odd-shaped windows. When you are making a sizable investment we always recommended have a professional window treatment measure done early in the process. Having an accurate measure done first can help avoid costly mistakes and re-makes later and may also help save you money on you initial purchase and installation. Most custom drapery or window treatment retailers may often provide an initial measure for free. Retailers and Workrooms can also use a detailed measure to find ways to save money by maximizing fabric lengths and widths. After all, the majority of the cost or expense with custom soft window treatments, like drapery comes from the cost of the fabric. If your Retailer or Workroom can shave a yard of fabric off of every treatment, the savings can really add up.

Beyond the measure, better drapery retailers and Workrooms should be able to provide you with free design advice. It is important to understand, and ask, who will be giving the advice. Many of the larger retailers will send a “Sales Person” out to your home who is on commission. You are not going to get good, if any, design advice from a untrained Sales Person. If you are dealing with your retailer over the phone, make sure you are speaking with someone with real-world design experience. At DrapeStyle, we don’t have “Sales People”. When you call us you are speaking with a trained Interior Design Professional who understands your entire project from measure to fabric selection to construction. When calling any national retailer, ask some good questions to be sure you are not speaking to a Sales Person who is simply reading off of a script. At DrapeStyle we only hire Sales Designers who have completed advanced classes at either Design Schools (Such as Interior Designers Institute (IDI) in Newport Beach) or a 4-year University. We love to bring in Interns who are Students at IDI and then, after they graduate, have them come on as full-time Sales Designers.